diff --git a/src/fontra/backends/designspace.py b/src/fontra/backends/designspace.py
index 497d0a4e7..c8f4a0ae8 100644
--- a/src/fontra/backends/designspace.py
+++ b/src/fontra/backends/designspace.py
@@ -1200,6 +1200,24 @@ async def putBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str, data: ImageData) -> Non
             reader = self.ufoManager.getReader(ufoPath)
             reader.writeImage(imageFileName, data.data, validate=True)
 
+    async def deleteBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str) -> None:
+        imageInfo = self._imageMapping.reverse.get(imageIdentifier)
+        if imageInfo is None:
+            return
+
+        ufoPath, imageFileName = self._imageMapping.reverse[imageIdentifier]
+        # a temp folder is not needed if we get back the image from cache.
+
+        # # before we remove the image: copy to temporary folder
+        # # so that we can restore it if needed
+        # temp_dir = pathlib.Path(ufoPath) / "temp"
+        # temp_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+
+        reader = self.ufoManager.getReader(ufoPath)
+        # reader.copyFromReader(reader, f"images/{imageFileName}", f"temp/{imageFileName}")
+
+        reader.removeImage(imageFileName)
+
     def _getImageIdentifier(self, ufoPath: str, imageFileName: str) -> str:
         key = (ufoPath, imageFileName)
         imageIdentifier = self._imageMapping.get(key)
diff --git a/src/fontra/backends/fontra.py b/src/fontra/backends/fontra.py
index 21ef76211..c54a29ede 100644
--- a/src/fontra/backends/fontra.py
+++ b/src/fontra/backends/fontra.py
@@ -203,6 +203,13 @@ async def putBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str, data: ImageData) -> Non
         path = self.backgroundImagesDir / fileName
         path.write_bytes(data.data)
 
+    async def deleteBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str) -> None:
+        for imageType in [ImageType.PNG, ImageType.JPEG]:
+            fileName = f"{imageIdentifier}.{imageType.lower()}"
+            path = self.backgroundImagesDir / fileName
+            if path.is_file():
+                path.unlink()
+
     async def getCustomData(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
         return deepcopy(self.fontData.customData)
 
diff --git a/src/fontra/client/core/font-controller.js b/src/fontra/client/core/font-controller.js
index fa67618e2..0fe1640bc 100644
--- a/src/fontra/client/core/font-controller.js
+++ b/src/fontra/client/core/font-controller.js
@@ -264,6 +264,10 @@ export class FontController {
     });
   }
 
+  async deleteBackgroundImageData(imageIdentifier) {
+    await this.font.deleteBackgroundImage(imageIdentifier);
+  }
+
   getCachedGlyphNames() {
     return this._glyphsPromiseCache.keys();
   }
@@ -853,6 +857,25 @@ export class FontController {
     if (isRedo) {
       undoRecord = reverseUndoRecord(undoRecord);
     }
+
+    if (
+      undoRecord?.rollbackChange?.a &&
+      undoRecord.rollbackChange.a[0] === "backgroundImage"
+    ) {
+      if (!isRedo) {
+        // the following code uses the cached image to put it back to the backend
+        const backgroundImage = undoRecord.rollbackChange["a"][1];
+        const image = await this.getBackgroundImage(backgroundImage.identifier);
+        if (image) {
+          await this.putBackgroundImageData(backgroundImage.identifier, image.src);
+        }
+      } else {
+        const backgroundImage = undoRecord.change["a"][1];
+        // if we do redo, we need to delete the image from the backend
+        await this.deleteBackgroundImageData(backgroundImage.identifier);
+      }
+    }
+
     // Hmmm, would be nice to have this abstracted more
     await this.applyChange(undoRecord.rollbackChange);
     const error = await this.editFinal(
diff --git a/src/fontra/core/fonthandler.py b/src/fontra/core/fonthandler.py
index d484d8c41..fdad64162 100644
--- a/src/fontra/core/fonthandler.py
+++ b/src/fontra/core/fonthandler.py
@@ -283,6 +283,14 @@ async def getBackgroundImage(
             type=imageData.type, data=base64.b64encode(imageData.data).decode("ascii")
         )
 
+    @remoteMethod
+    async def deleteBackgroundImage(
+        self, imageIdentifier: str, *, connection=None
+    ) -> dict | None:
+        if not hasattr(self.backend, "deleteBackgroundImage"):
+            return None
+        return await self.backend.deleteBackgroundImage(imageIdentifier)
+
     def _getClientData(self, connection, key, default=None):
         return self.clientData[connection.clientUUID].get(key, default)
 
diff --git a/src/fontra/core/protocols.py b/src/fontra/core/protocols.py
index 0010cebb5..43d9e0422 100644
--- a/src/fontra/core/protocols.py
+++ b/src/fontra/core/protocols.py
@@ -106,8 +106,8 @@ async def putBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str, data: ImageData) -> Non
 
     # TODO: since the image data does not itself participate in change messages,
     # we may depend on the backend itself to purge unused images.
-    # async def deleteBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str) -> None:
-    #     pass
+    async def deleteBackgroundImage(self, imageIdentifier: str) -> None:
+        pass
 
 
 @runtime_checkable
diff --git a/src/fontra/views/editor/editor.js b/src/fontra/views/editor/editor.js
index 82d23515d..af312fda8 100644
--- a/src/fontra/views/editor/editor.js
+++ b/src/fontra/views/editor/editor.js
@@ -2435,6 +2435,9 @@ export class EditorController {
           if (backgroundImageSelection) {
             // TODO: don't delete if bg images are locked
             // (even though we shouldn't be able to select them)
+            this.fontController.deleteBackgroundImageData(
+              layerGlyph.backgroundImage.identifier
+            );
             layerGlyph.backgroundImage = undefined;
           }
         }
diff --git a/test-py/test_backends_designspace.py b/test-py/test_backends_designspace.py
index ac3c5fcef..f985d1629 100644
--- a/test-py/test_backends_designspace.py
+++ b/test-py/test_backends_designspace.py
@@ -414,6 +414,20 @@ async def test_putBackgroundImage(writableTestFont):
     assert imageData2 == imageData
 
 
+async def test_deleteBackgroundImage(writableTestFont):
+    glyph = await writableTestFont.getGlyph("C")
+    for layerName, layer in glyph.layers.items():
+        bgImage = layer.glyph.backgroundImage
+        if bgImage is not None:
+            break
+
+    await writableTestFont.deleteBackgroundImage(bgImage.identifier)
+
+    imageData3 = await writableTestFont.getBackgroundImage(bgImage.identifier)
+
+    assert imageData3 is None
+
+
 async def test_putGlyph_with_backgroundImage_new_font(testFont, tmpdir):
     tmpdir = pathlib.Path(tmpdir)
     newFont = DesignspaceBackend.createFromPath(tmpdir / "test.designspace")